SunPower Awarded Approximately 500 Megawatts of Solar in Mexico’s First Electricity Auction

SunPower Corp. announced that under Mexico’s first electricity power auction, the company has been awarded power purchase agreements with CFE, Mexico’s state-owned electric utility, to deliver one terawatt-hour of energy, equivalent to approximately 500 megawatts, over the term of the agreements. The auction was held as a result of Mexico’s sweeping energy sector reform, which opened the market for energy companies to compete as generation providers.

SunPower’s awards from the auction include almost 400 megawatts in Yucatan and more than 100 megawatts in Guanajuato, and their associated clean energy certificates. Based on the auction results released by Mexico’s National Center for Energy Control, or CENACE, SunPower won approximately 20 percent of the total energy, and 25 percent of the solar energy, awarded from the energy auction. Project development and construction is contingent on factors including contract execution.

“With more than seven gigawatts of solar power systems around the world using our high performance technology, SunPower has the experience and expertise to deliver reliable, cost-competitive solar power to serve Mexico’s growing energy demand,” said Tom Werner, SunPower President and CEO. “SunPower is proud to have this opportunity to partner with CFE to accelerateMexico’s transition to a robust clean energy economy.”

In December, SunPower announced a long term power purchase agreement under which the company would provide 36 megawatts of solar power to Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V., a privatized airport group in Mexico and operator of Cancun Airport and eight other airports in southeast Mexico. SunPower expects to start construction this year and, once the project is operational, the company will provide operations and maintenance services, including monitoring power plant production.

SunPower has operated in Mexico since 2011, and has a manufacturing facility in Mexicali that produces more than one gigawatt of high efficiency SunPower® solar panels annually. SunPower panels manufactured in Mexicali were the first and only solar panels in the world to achieve Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Silver designation for their sustainable manufacturing practices. Ninety-nine percent of the waste generated from SunPower’s Mexicali facility is diverted from landfills, making it the first of any industry in Mexico to be third-party verified as landfill-free.